What’s your solution?
Dear people of the Commonwealth: By nature, I am what you would refer to as the quiet type and stick to my family matters. I am a retiree since 1999 and I have worked for our Commonwealth government at the Department of Finance, Finance Section for 20 years. Like most retired people, I am proud to say that I earned my living and benefits fair and square.
My purpose in writing this letter is because, you see, I have worked for 20 years and have been retired for 14 years and now displaced by our government for its failure to deliver the constitutional mandate of paying my retirement benefit in full—not be shorted 25 percent in cuts to my retirement benefits. As a responsible parent, I am now forced to find a job to supplement by retirement cut.
Now that the Legislature passed the casino, EGM, and VLT laws, which the government have signed into laws and for the first time our government has shown some concrete plans to address the retirement dilemma, we have outsiders and our own local people jumping and making a raucous by passing anti-casino and anti-electronic gaming petitions around. Let me ask bluntly, what do you offer in return? What is your proposed concrete solution?
We have a failing CUC, CHC, and the Retirement Fund, all competing for the limited resources that this government proposes to operate with. Do you know that both the Public School System and Northern Marianas College are protected by the Constitution too for their funding allocation?
I humbly ask these people circulating anti-casino and anti-electronic gaming petitions, and those putting all those billboards that litter our streets, to propose constructive solutions rather than stopping these laws.
Times have changed and the old sentiments are different back then and now. Those saying the phrase to respect the voice of the people are using it for selfish reasons as my family and I do not prescribe to their action and I really do not want less than a majority of the population making statements that reflects the will of the people.
Maggie S. Mendiola
Chalan Kiya, Saipan
Maggie, I am not optimistic about a casino and here’s why.
It will take years before it is operational and enough people come to gamble before the retirement fund sees one dime.
We need money now, and one way this can be accomplished is a sales tax in the commonwealth, say 5 percent. This would apply to everything except food items in grocery stories. It would generate revenue immediately, and continue to bring in money every month.. That is, if it can be done without someone skimming!
Another source of revenue is to tax and sell pot. Many US states have legalized it and are deriving cash benefits from it, especially states like Colorado. Many people are morally opposed it it, but it’s the wave of the future. 20 states are considering legislation to legalize, regulate and tax it. After all, why should the criminals make all the money?
We have a lot of prostitutes here and they pay no income tax. They also need to be regulated and taxed, the same as any other working group. It’s not pretty but it’s obviously a booming tourist attraction here.
Last, there are a lot of cash-only businesses, and it’s likely that they are tax scofflaws also. They need to be investigated pronto, and revenue collected.